Resource Testimonies/Comments
Resource
FY26 Budget Testimony: Office of the Ombudsperson for Children
Children’s Law Center Senior Policy Attorney Leah Castelaz testified before the Committee on Youth Affairs, asking the Council to fully restore funding to the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children and strike the repeal language from the Budget Support Act.
Children’s Law Center has been a staunch supporter of the Council’s extraordinary efforts to establish and uphold this Office for many years – through unanimously voting to establish the Office in 2020 and unanimously overriding the Mayor’s veto in 2021, to fully funding the Office in FY2022 and fully restoring funding for the Office when the Mayor defunded it the first time in FY2023 and in FY2025.
The Office of the Ombudsperson for Children plays an important role in resolving day-to-day problems, addressing the systemic concerns of the District’s children and families, and building the Council’s capacity to have effective oversight of all child and family serving agencies in the District.